Key Terms from Chapter 2

A distinctive and relatively stable pattern of behavior, thoughts, motives, and emotions that characterizes an individual.

trait

A characteristic of an individual, describing a habitual way of behaving, thinking, or feeling.

psychoanalysis

A theory of personality and a method of psychotherapy, originally formulated by Sigmund Freud, that emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts.

psychodynamic theories

Theories that explain behavior and personality in terms of unconscious energy dynamics within the individual.

id

In psychoanalysis, the part of personality containing inherited psychic energy, particularly sexual and aggressive instincts.

libido (li-BEE-do)

In psychoanalysis, the psychic energy that fuels the life or sexual instincts of the id.

ego

In psychoanalysis, the part of personality that represents reason, good sense, and rational self-control.

superego

In psychoanalysis, the part of personality that represents conscience, morality, and social standards.

defense mechanisms

Methods used by the ego to prevent unconscious anxiety or threatening thoughts from entering consciousness.

psychosexual stages

In Freud’s theory, the idea that sexual energy takes different forms as the child matures; the stages are oral, anal, phallic (Oedipal), latency, and genital.

Oedipus complex

In psychoanalysis, a conflict occurring in the phallic (Oedipal) stage, in which a child desires the parent of the other sex and views the same-sex parent as a rival.

collective unconscious

In Jungian theory, the universal memories and experiences of humankind, represented in the symbols, stories, and images (archetypes) that occur across all cultures.

object-relations school

A psychodynamic approach that emphasizes the importance of the infant’s first two years of life and the baby’s formative relationships, especially with the mother.

objective tests (inventories)

Standardized questionnaires requiring written responses; they typically include scales on which people are asked to rate themselves.

factor analysis

A statistical method for analyzing the intercorrelations among various measures or test scores; clusters of measures or scores that are highly correlated are assumed to measure the same underlying trait, ability, or attitude (factor).

genes

The functional units of heredity; they are composed of DNA and specify the structure of proteins.

temperaments

Physiological dispositions to respond to the environment in certain ways; they are present in infancy and are assumed to be innate.

heritability

A statistical estimate of the proportion of the total variance in some trait that is attributable to genetic differences among individuals within a group.

behavioral genetics

An interdisciplinary field of study concerned with the genetic bases of individual differences in behavior and personality.

social-cognitive learning theory

A major contemporary learning view of personality, which holds that personality traits result from a person’s learning history and his or her expectations, beliefs, perceptions of events, and other cognitions.

reciprocal determinism

In social-cognitive theories, the two-way interaction between aspects of the environment and aspects of the individual in shaping of personality traits.

nonshared environment

Unique aspects of a person’s environment and experience that are not shared with family members.

culture

A program of shared rules that govern the behavior of members of a community or society and a set of values, beliefs, and attitudes shared by most members of that community.

individualist cultures

Cultures in which the self is regarded as autonomous, and individual goals and wishes are prized above duty and relations with others.

collectivist cultures

Cultures in which the self is regarded as embedded in relationships, and harmony with one’s group is prized above individual goals and wishes.

humanist psychology

A psychological approach that emphasizes personal growth, resilience, and the achievement of human potential.

unconditional positive regard

To Carl Rogers, love or support given to another person with no conditions attached.

existentialism

A philosophical approach that emphasizes the inevitable dilemmas and challenges of human existence.

Quick Quiz 1

Have Freudian concepts registered in your unconscious? Which Freudian concepts do the following events suggest?

1. A 4-year-old girl wants to snuggle on Daddy’s lap but refuses to kiss her mother.

2. A celibate priest writes poetry about sexual passion.

3. A man who is angry with his boss shouts at his kids for making noise.

4. A racist justifies segregation by saying that black men are only interested in sex with white women.

5. A 9-year-old boy who moves to a new city starts having tantrums.

1. Oedipus complex

2. sublimation

3. displacement

4. projection

5. regression

Quick Quiz 2

Are you feeling defensive about answering this quiz?

1. An 8-year-old boy is hitting classmates and disobeying his teacher. Which of the following explanations of his behavior might come from a Freudian, Jungian, or object-relations analyst?
a. The boy is expressing his shadow archetype.
b. The boy is expressing the aggressive energy of the id and has not developed enough ego control.
c. The boy has had unusual difficulty separating from his mother and is compensating by behaving aggressively.

2. What criticism of all three of the preceding explanations might a psychological scientist make?

3. In the 1950s and 1960s, many psychoanalysts, observing unhappy gay men who had sought therapy, concluded that homosexuality was a mental illness. What violation of the scientific method were they committing?

1. a. Jung b. Freud c. object-relations analyst

2. All three explanations are nonfalsifiable; that is, there is no way to disconfirm them or confirm them. They are just subjective interpretations.

3. The analysts were drawing conclusions from patients in therapy and fail- ing to test these conclusions with gay men who were not in therapy or with heterosexuals. When such research was done using appropriate control groups, it turned out that gay men were not more mentally disturbed or depressed than heterosexuals (Hooker, 1957).

Quick Quiz 3

Show that you have the trait of conscientiousness by taking this quiz.

1. What is the advantage of inventories over projective tests in measuring personality?

3. Which of the following are not among the Big Five personality factors? (a) introversion, (b) agreeableness, (c) psychoticism, (d) openness to experience, (e) intelligence, (f) neuroticism, (g) conscientiousness.

4. Which one of the Big Five typically decreases by age 40? (a) agreeableness, (b) extroversion, (c) openness to experience, (d) neuroticism.

1. In general, they have better reliability and validity.

2. b

3. c, e

4. d

Quick Quiz 4

We hope you have a few quiz-taking genes.

1. What three broad lines of research support the hypothesis that personality differences are due in part to genetic differences?

2. In behavioral-genetic studies, the heritability of personality traits, including the Big Five, is typically about (a) .50, (b) .90, (c) .10 to .20, (d) zero.

3. Researchers announce that their study of identical twins has revealed a high heritability for divorce (McGue & Lykken, 1992). Given that our prehistoric ancestors hadn’t yet invented marriage, let alone divorce, what on earth could this finding mean?

1. Research on animal personalities, human temperaments, and the heritability of traits

2. a

3. There obviously cannot be a “divorce gene,” but perhaps personality factors with a heritable component, such as neuroticism and hostility, make it harder for a person to get along with a partner and thereby increase the likelihood of getting divorced (Rogge et al., 2006).

Quick Quiz 5

Do your peers take these quizzes? Does the answer determine whether you will?

1. What three lines of evidence have challenged the belief that parents are the major influence on their children’s personalities?

2. Which contributes most to the variation among siblings in their personality traits: (a) the unique experi- ences they have that are not shared with their families, (b) the family environment that all of them share, or (c) the way their parents treat them?

3. Eight-year-old Dwayne is pretty shy at home, where he is the middle of six children, but extroverted at school, where he is the leader of his friends. What might be the reason for his apparent personality change?

1. The shared family environment has little if any influence on personality; few parents have a consistent child-rearing style; and even when parents try to be consistent in the way they treat their children, there may be little relation between what they do and how the chil- dren turn out.

2. a

3. Peer groups have a powerful influence on which personality traits are encouraged and expressed, and peers can even override the child’s situation at home.

Quick Quiz 6

At the moment, you live in a culture that values the importance of quizzes.

1. Cultures whose members regard the “self” as a collection of stable personality traits are (individualist/ collectivist).

2. Which cultural practice tends to foster the traits of helpfulness and altruism? (a) Every family member “does his or her own thing,” (b) parents insist that children obey, (c) children contribute to the family welfare, (d) parents remind children often about the importance of being helpful.

3. Why, according to one theory, do men in the American South and West respond more aggressively to perceived insults than other American men do?

1. individualist

2. c

3. These men come from regions in which economies based on herding gave rise to cultures of honor, requiring males to be vigilant and aggressive toward potential threats.

Quick Quiz 7

Exercise free will, as a humanist would advise you to, by choosing to take this quiz.

1. According to Carl Rogers, a man who loves his wife only when she is looking her best is giving her _______________ positive regard.

2. The humanist who described the importance of having peak experiences was (a) Abraham Maslow, (b) Rollo May, (c) Carl Rogers.

3. A humanist and a Freudian psychoanalyst are arguing about human nature. What underlying assumptions about psychology and human potential are they likely to bring to their discussion? How can they resolve their differences without either-or thinking?

1. conditional

2. a

3. The Freudian assumes that human nature is basically selfish and destructive; the humanist assumes that it is basically loving and cooperative. They can resolve this either-or debate by recognizing that human beings have both capacities, and that the situation and culture often determine which capacity is expressed at a given time.